H3: What Are the Best First Level Troops?

[Nucleon]

Salutations, H3 enthusiasts.

First lvl monsters: The little guys. The gleefully die for us at the first encountered mines, to be most often forgotten as soon as the first month is over. They're grease for the wheels, unsung heroes and forgotten sacrifices on the altar of victory.

Many of them got a new life with WoG's troop experience system.

Which ones are the most efficient, the most durable towards the end of a game, or the more conveniently useful? Please give a vote of confidence for your favorite grunts.

(Nucleon voluntarly omitted the Peasants, althought they surely are useful for necromancers... Aren't they a 0 lvl troop anyway?)

Vote!

[Crusard]

Halfings only because I love their ranged attack and numbers.

[Corribus]

I was very close to saying halflings.... or master gremlins. Due mostly to their ranged ability. But then I decided skellies because of Necromancy. You can just get a whole lot of them. But now that I think of it I am thinking maybe the ranged troops are better after all.

[ThunderTitan]

Gremlins! Because i really hate how Halflings look in H3. Still, I almost picked Pixie/Sprite coz the Gremlins took the place of the Halflings in the Wizard town for no good reason.

[Pol]

I liked them all, no voting was done.

[Gaidal Cain]

Vote Gnolls. Probably one of the most underestimated units out there.

[Grumpy Old Wizard]

I voted gemlins/master gremlins.

[Orfinn]

I go for the centaurs, they are the most expensive but they are worth the gold, sturdy and fast

[LordScimitar]

I would have picked Master Gremlins if it was just upgraded troops. But unupgraded Gremlins are just so awful its painful.

Thus, Skeletons. The sheer number you can get makes them the only first level unit that still poses a legitimate threat by end game. Command with Animate Dead (especially if you have a commander with the Magic Power) and they become unstoppable. No other unit 1 can claim this.

[Banedon]

The most efficient - this has to be Centaur Captains, who deal damage like no other level 1 creature in equal numbers.

The most durable at the end of the game - this goes to Skeleton Warriors, since they'd be in the greatest numbers and thus the most durable.

The most conveniently useful - close one between Sprites and Centaur Captains. The Sprites are most useful clearing mines and all, but later they can't be used to absorb retaliation. Still, they're fast and are terribly useful earlier in the game.

Conclusion: I don't know what to vote for.

[DaemianLucifer]

Voted skellies,although I like pixies as well.Pikemen and centaurs are also excelent to have,but they die out quicklier than these two.

[wimfrits]

Conlux is the only town where I can jump from lvl1 units to lvl7 units, so my vote for most useful unit goes to sprites.

Could have voted centaurs as well though. Centaurs alone can take you a long way at the start (but elves are just too good to pass). But centaurs also seem the most efficient backup creatures. Their speed and damage allows them to get in decent hits in about every fight; even in later stages of the game.

I don't understand all the gremlin votes...
Though ranged is surely overpowered in this game, master gremlins are the exception to the rule imo. They do incredibly low damage and are too slow to be useful; especially after the gremlin-rush-fix.

[Banedon]

A Gremlin-rush existed? I've never found them threatening.

[Gaidal Cain]

Yes, back when RoE was released, Tower heroes came with about 80 gremlins. Coupled with the fact that troops and movement points were reset when the hero fled, amassing huge amounts of gremlins became easy if you had some luck with what you had near your castle.

[wimfrits]

A Gremlin-rush existed? I've never found them threatening.

In the original game, new tower heroes started with like 60 gremlins. In small maps, tower could buy an additional hero, upgrade the workshop and start off towards an opponent with about 150 master gremlins. There's little any side could do about that.

[Gaidal Cain]

I just noticed something- the thread topic asks for best Level 1 creature, but the question above the poll asks about favourite. Since these aren't the same (I clearly wouldn't have voted Gnolls if it were for "best" creature), I would like to know which one is intended?

[Metathron]

I go for the centaurs, they are the most expensive but they are worth the gold, sturdy and fast

I concur. They are one of the rare level 1 units I actually appreciate having in my army.

[Mutare Drake]

I'm all for the centaurs too. I think they are the most useful later on, they're among the toughest (can't remember if pikemen/halberdiers have the same HP). Unfortunately, I have yet to play an H3 game with necromancy, so I can't attest to skeletons. However, in a one-on-one battle, I think the centaurs would come out on top.

[Bandobras Took]

Had to vote for Centaurs as the best. Nobody comes close to their speed and overall combat ability on the level one tier.

[gravyluvr]

Oh yeah...

I want to change my vote. I voted for Master Gremlins but as the "best" in my gameplay.

They are far from my favorite.

I have to go with the Centaurs (my favorite from HOMM 1-2 also).

Centaurs are cool. Gremlins are silly and should never have replaced the halflings. But Master Gremlins can help you clear way too much in early game not to be considered as best.